Chapter 91: Promise

91. Promise

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- Jacob -

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The rest of the day was damn difficult. Natalie’s parents were called and his father involved the police.

“What will happen next?” I ask the admin lady sitting beside me as I wait for my turn for questioning.

“She is a minor... Police will file a child porngraphy case even though the images are not that…” She goes quiet for a moment then adds, “It’s a serious matter… The boy in the poster will be questioned too. Usually these things are done to take revenge. He will probably be considered a primary suspect.”

I don’t think West did this.

Why would he if he wanted to keep sleeping with her?

But they had a fight… So maybe he asked someone to throw these posters in classrooms.

So many things seem confusing and conflicting right now.

Didn’t Natalie care about Riley? They seemed close.

Maybe Natalie always wanted to be with him. Possibly they stopped talking because West didn’t choose her.

Fuck! I don’t want to think about it. I take a deep breath and tap my feet while waiting.

I try hard. But still I cannot help but remember tiny details.

How she sometimes looked at him.

Cared for him.

Flushed around him. Especially at that birthday party.

I chuckle.

I am unable to differentiate if my mind is making things up, or I really noticed these details.

It’s been hours, and my throat is dry. There is an unusual heaviness in my chest. I hope it will be gone in a few days.

How long does it take to get over someone?

It’s funny, I was trying to cheer up Norris a day ago for the very same reason.

He specially called me to ask for company.

Do I want company?

I don’t think so.

I just want to be alone for a while.

…..

As I drive towards home, I have to make a sincere effort not to look at her house. I haven’t cried yet. But I am at my breaking point. I need some fucking privacy.

I pack my stuff and tell mom I will be staying at Grandma’s place for a few days. It’s an open house now. Thank goodness it hasn’t been sold yet.

I need solitude for a few days. Maybe I will feel better afterwards.

When I unlock the door and walk inside. A memory precisely replays in my mind. The way she tiptoed around the stuff lying around in this living room.

I drag my feet to my room and stare at it. We spend our night together in this room.

There is no furniture anymore.

The bed we slept on is not here.

The table I dragged and placed across the bed to have dinner at isn’t here either.

Nor are the candles or Natalie…

She had leaned in for our first kiss.

That seemed genuine. So many things seemed real and genuine.

Probably they were…

Maybe I was not enough, or maybe her desire for him was stronger.

I always thought I would bring her here once, before this place is sold for good. That wouldn’t happen now.

I pinch my brows to stop myself from crying, but I cannot hold myself anymore.

… …

I skip school the next day… and the day after. If it was in my control, I would have skipped the whole week or something.

With no mattress and furniture to lie on, my back is sore. Sleeping on the floor isn’t exactly comfortable. But I guess that’s what I needed. A bit of discomfort, to distract me. It worked mostly well. I visited some of my old friends. Went to see Hanna.

After taking a bath, I pack my stuff and clean the room.

I will go home after school today and eat some decent food. I barely ate anything here. I am kind of starving now.

As I drive towards school, I cannot help but wonder how everything and our breakup will affect Natalie.

How is she doing?

Will she isolate herself again? Or will she hang out with West now?

I hold the steering wheel tight as I feel a pang of jealousy. I don’t want her alone and isolated. But I don’t want her with West either.

I know it’s stupid to think like this. I shouldn’t think about her at all.

Fuck! This is going to take a hell lot of time.

Did West and Riley break up too? Riley was tired of West’s shit, anyway. I can tell it would be the last straw. I snort, remembering many times Natalie used to point out West’s toxic traits, which were very accurate. Then why would she go to him?

Maybe girls do like bad boys.

I shake my head in amusement.

I am fucking hopeless. I had my thoughts under control over the last two days.

Look at me... Going to school thinking about things that shouldn’t matter to me.

Natalie should be the last thing on my mind.

….

As I reach the school, I see Norris getting out of his car. I stop in my tracks to see his face. It’s swollen and one-eye is shut.

“What the fuck happened to you?” I exclaim.

He chuckles. “You missed so much drama in the last two days, Jacob!”

“What happened?”

“It’s much better now. I had to take a half day yesterday because of pain.”

“Who did this? Did you get into some fight? ”

“West that asshole… He is a fucking beast, though. He thought I leaked the pictures…”

“What? W-Why-“

“Funny thing is, I didn’t even know what had happened at school on Monday… I am not in that stupid group chat anymore... So I had no way to know…”

I quit that group too.

Everyone was talking about Natalie. They were scoring us, who looked better with her. Jacob or West and some random boys. They made guesses if Riley will date me now.

I shudder at the thought. Here I am reeling under so much pain and it’s entertaining gossip for them.

Then he looks at me and says, “I am really sorry about Natalie…It was fucked up.”

I grimace. I have been constantly thinking about her since this morning. I don’t wanna talk about her.

Although it is fucked up. I am still unable to wrap my head around everything that had happened after West birthday party. I need to stop thinking about that night.

“Why would he think you leaked the pictures?” I ask as we walk inside the school.

“Do you remember West had given me a phone to repair?”

I try to think and nod. I remember he had given him his phone twice. But that happened long ago.

“I fixed and gave that phone to Millie because her phone was broken and she needed a spare for a while.”

He takes a pause then adds apologetically, “My mistake… that I didn’t check on time if it was clean or not… But when I noticed those pics along with many others, I deleted them…”

along with many others…

“But it looks like Millie made a backup of some of the pics and she…” He sighs.

“This was below the belt… By the way, I gave my statement to the police yesterday. Millie will certainly be expelled. Natalie’s parents will probably press charges on her. She is in deep shit.”

I feel bad about Natalie. It was wrong, the way everything happened. She wanted to be there for Millie’s support… She wanted to report the group for slandering. I wonder if I should do it now. The snapshots she took are in my phone after all.

“But why would she do that?” I ask him.

“I guess she did this so everyone will stop talking about her…” He says in a resigned voice.

Suddenly, something in my head clicks and my mind blanks out.

It was an old phone…

“Someone has anger issues.” Riley had teased West that day when he handed the phone to Norris.

“Oh, come on!! Happened more than a year ago. Quit it already Babe…” West had told her.

The pics were old…

Why didn’t she tell me?

“How is Natalie, though?” Norris asks, “I understand if she doesn’t want to attend school for a few days but is she ok? I called her, but she didn’t pick up.”

I look at him, still unable to process what I just realized.

“Are you saying the pictures are not recent?” I ask, unable to believe myself.

Norris looks at me and his expression changes.

“Fuck! Oh God… You didn’t know,” he says with realization.

“She- She didn’t tell me.” I tell him, bewildered.

But why?